Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-04-07
UNCLE DICK
Is DishOnOrably Discharged
From the WheelerS.

rendered necessary uy uosI eHa'he'u'
treatment received at the hands Of
parties who although they were mask
ed, will yet he ferreted OFT and proa-
ecuted to the full extent OF the law.
am determined that the people shall
know how | have bean treated, As |
think it high time for such ontrsgcs
to stop ami peaceful law abiding citl-
zens be permitted to 90 along in the
even tenor Of their way, Wheel or no
wheel. A short time back, although
| had not yet recovered from the Ell
tects OF taking the second Wheeler
degree, having desile to learn OF the
latest plan the boys had decided vi
on for q reduction Of the tariff, and
disposition of the surplus revenue, /
saddled my horse and rode down TO
the Corners. ! found that no definite
plan had yet been formulated for
settlement Of the questions REFERRED 10
but the majority Of the crowd seemed
TO be opposed to an Increase of the
surplus. One OF the boyn, who quite
frequently would remove thu cork
from corpulsnt looking jug and quiz
city elevate and peer into it to see if
the bottom had fallen out, remarked
that he did not drink wild cat for the
purpose Of defrau,ling the Govern
ment, but from principle, simply tor
the reason that he was opposed to an
increase of the surplus. Now, said
he, every gallon of lax paid whisky l
drink land am obliged to uSe con-
siderable quantity of liquid stimu-
liant, owing to u constitutional de-
rangement Of my diaphragm) increa-
ses the surplus TO the extent of about
one dollar and the Lord knows the
Treasury ID already full and over
lowing. Let US, ne continued, (sgain
examining the jug) quickly decide
upon some plan to remove the tax Oh
whisky and thus relieve long sutfeI-
ing aud over taxed people. 1t had
now grown dark, aud | started home
before any defnile measure had been
upon Tor reduction Of tue revenue.
| had gone but short distance when
was halted by four masked men.
and told to dismount. | endeavore,i
to reason the case with them, and
beg OFT, but no 90. l at FIRST thought
the men were armed with guns, bu.
n closer inspection revealed the fact
that instead OF guns, they Sere those
same old Wheeler pixies, aad as !
was still smartlns from prods rsceiv-
ed from such persuaders, thought
discretion The better part OF valol
and quickly dismounled. They tied
my horse 70 tree, and with II guar,
TN each side Of me, and two in til,
rear, the command, forward, march
was given and away We went. | al
once realized what was up knew
they were taking me 10 the Wheelei
lodge for the purpose, Us | supposed
Of putting me through the third d.
gree, and thinking it useless to AZ.
tempt 10 escape, resigned my sci
10 my fate. We soon arrived at IN,
lodge and l noticed that special prep
aIatluns seemed to have been mad,
for MY reception. On the walls were
VARIOUS devlses suggestive OF dcall
To traitors, and lying OH table il
front Of the Great Mogul was hu
mau skull and crossboues, while sus
pended from the ceiling was human
skeleton with a placard bearing tn,
following inscription: The man t,
shom these bones once belonged, di
vulged the secrets OF our order; wha
became Of him !? turn the card owe
md learn" Cusiosity prompted IN
10 look on the other side OF the card
where in bold letters appeared Til,
following: We skinned hlm alive
Perish all traitors" was marched
up in front OF the Great Moyul, who
alter lapping order, addressed me IA
follows; Traitor, listen to the decree
oil he Tribunal Of our order. Yol
have been found guilty Of divulgin,
the secrets of our Lodge, the penall,
for which, according to the Ritual, /
des tn or u dishonorable discharge
The Tribunal has calmly, and With
out prejudice. examined all the ties
tinony bearing ON your cane, an,
while ii is Of the opinion that you
conduct fully meri, 8 AN infection u
The death penalty, yet owing to Ger
tain mitigating circumstances, til
decree is not death, but that you b
dishonOrahly discharged, aud TIL
members will proceed to execute tn
sentence after shining the lie pre-
scribed by the Ritual. They thcl
saug as follows, at thu same I'm
marching around the room, with IA.
in the lead, fankcd by two guard
who kept probing me with thel
pixies:
The traitor trembles in HE boots,
But there is no appeal,
The sentence must be carried out,
No more he'll ride the Wheel
Well discharge him from our Order,
With dishonor, turn him loose,
And will now. with due solemnity,
Proceed to cook his goose.
Now, said tue Great Mogul, L.
the culprit be taken to the Chamo'
of Execution, aud the command Wa
at once obeyed. The chamber refer
red to was Il dismal looking room OF
the first floor and after | had been d
1t few moments began TO realiz
that y dishonorable discharge mean
great deal more than the term I'm
plies. The walls were covered wit
devices conveying the idea that 'leat
WAS the penalty for divulging The Sc
crets of he order. while in the cent?